Wire-holding means for electric conductors.



O. E. MONROE.

WIRE HOLDING MEANS FOR ELEETRIC CONDUCTORS.

APPLICATION FfLED MAR. 30, 1915.

Patented June 27, 1916.

@Wuwiom 6M. Jim-five OLIVER a. MONROE, on ST. LOUIS, MIssoUnI.

WIRE-HOLDING- MEANS FQR ELECTRIC CONDUCTORS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patent c a June 27, 1916 Application filed March 30, 1915. Serial No. 18,114.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Ommn E. Monnon, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Louis, State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wire- Holding Means for- Electric Conductors, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to improvements in wire supporting and holding means designed'especially to eliminate the necessity of tying in wirelconductors of electric current to the insulator supports, as now customary, which involves considerable waste of tie wires, weakening of the conductors at points where kinking takes place due to binding about said insulators by the tie wires, and last but. not least, dangers of physical contact of linemen in hanging or repairing live wires";

The use of my invention possesses numerous advantages, among which may be mentioned that of greatly facilitating the process of stringing the lines or conductors, it being only necessary to position the holding means of this invention. properly upon,v

the arm support of a pole and-insert the conductor into its seat, whereupon the clamping elements of my invention may be easily thrown into cooperative relation with the wire without requiring'any tying whatsoever; again, actual handling of the con: duo-tor is not required, it being contemplated to employ special manipulative means for attaching my support in position, said means, however, not being disclosed in the present application; still another feature inherent to the use of my device lies in the fact that when breakage of a line occurs between any two poles, the holding means of this invention prevents slacking back beyond this span and consequent danger beyond that point to passers-by.

In carryingout these objects, and in its practical embodiment, thejinvention consists of a supportingfram adapted to be attached to an insulator either ofspecialor ordinary construction, said frame being pro- 'vided with "wire clamping members so arranged in cooperation with the frame as to more firmly engage the wire as thestrain thereon increases. In addition thereto I contemplate employing tension means for imparting clamping action to the wire-engaging memberpr membersin one position,

or maintaining members in; inoperative position, such as when inserting the wire in position on the device.

These and such other objects as may hereinafter appear are attained by the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter specifically described and claimed.

Reference will now be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, wherein Figure 1 is a side elevation of an-embodi ment of the invention, showing in dotted lines the inoperative position of the wire engaging members; Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the device; 3 is a top plan view thereof: Fig. 4:, is a vertical sectional view taken on the line of Fig. 1; and Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the wire supporting frame.

-'lhc invention consists preferably in its embodiment disclosed by the drawing of a rectangular franie 1 of suitable proportions, havingits lower member 2 curved to conform to the shape of ail-insulator 3 to which it is attached, as by means of a cooperating clani-p [-12, complemental to the curved member 2, fastening members or bolts 5 passing through its bent extremities and suitable openings in the frame for the purpose of holding the frame in upright operative position on said insulator.

Upon one face, at each side of the frame 1, is formed alaterally projecting seat- 6, each seat being hook-shaped for reasons more clearly apparent from the following description.

Pivotally mounted at each upper cover of the frame 1, as at 7, is a rocker clamping or wire engaging member, designated 8, 8', each being of similar construction and form excepting that one is right hand and the other left hand. These wire engaging memhere are provided attheir free extremities with elongated enlargements 9 somewhat angular in formation and tapering toward each end or heel and toe. As most clearly shown in the drawing these elements perform a wedge function in that when in normal position they clamp the wire or conductor 10 by ooiiperation with their respective hook-shaped seats 6, the hooked terminals surface as well as serrated in the grooved an enlargement and at its other end to the frame 1 at any convenient point adjacent to the pivot of its respective wire engaging member. These springs place the Wire engaging members under tension tending to draw them into their normal position in the seats 6.

Projecting from each side of the frame 1 adjacent to its top are rests 13 integral with the frame and designed to support the wire engaging members when moved into the dotted line positions of Fig. 1, as when it is desired to insert the conductor or wire 10 in place after disposing the device in position upon the cross arm of the telegraph pole. When in such inoperative position these wire engaging members are swung to the opposite side of their pivot and are held against their respective rest supports from accidental displacement by the springs until such time as the lineman desires to engage them with the wire, it being only necessary at that time to move the members slightly past the vertical position over their pivots whereupon the springs become eii'ective to automatically draw these clamping members down into clamping engagement with the conductor.

The holding means of the for going description may be installed upon any ill-illittor and enables the slack in the wires to be taken up very much more quickly than where the wire is tied to the insulators in the ordinary manner, thereby involving quite a saving in maintenance expense. lThe wire is allowed'to remain straight in its disposition in the apparatus as hereinbefore premised, doing away with the damage made. by the ordinary tie wires which cause kinks under the old style of fastening. Fun thermore holding devices of the character of thisin'vcntion are lasting equipment and may be used over and over, an item of economy quite obvious. In addition to these advantages, the diilicultics and dangers of tying live wires are eliminated because of the facility with which these dc vices permit the engagement or clampingoi the vircs to be accomplished, and especially where they are installed by my special tool which forms the subject-matter of another :l})}')llltl0l1.

I desire it to be understood that slight changes may be made in the details of construction without departing from the spirit of the invention, and within the scope of the appended. claims. In other words, I do not desire to be limited to the exact dispcsition of my wire holding device upon the insulator as herein shown, because it is within the purview of my invention to construct the holding means so as to constitute a side wire tie, this only requiring that the clamping member 2 be so-lengthened or enlarged as to bring the frame 1 to the side of the insulator, the coiiperation clamping member 4 being correspondingly shortened to properly coact as herein described.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:-

1. In holding means of the class described for electric conductors, the combination of a support, a wire receiving seat formed thereon, a wire engaging member pivotally mounted on said support, and tension means connected to the support adjacent to the pivot of the wire engaging member and to the latter at a distance from said pivot to move the latter into clamping position upon swinging the same to one side of a horizontal plane passing through its pivot and into inoperative position upon swinging movement to the other side of said plane.

2. In holding means of the class described for electric conductors, the combination of a support, a wire receiving seat comprising a hook-shaped projection on said support, and a wire engaging member pivotally mounted on said support and having an enlarged extremity adapted to engage beneath the hook projection to clamp the wire in said seat.

3. In holding means oi the class described for electric conductors, the combination of a support, a wire receiving seat comprising a hook-shaped projection on said support, a wire engaging member pivotally mounted on said support and having an enlarged extren'iity adapted to engage beneath the hook projection to clamp the wire in said seat, and a spring connected at one end to the support and at its other end to the wire engaging member for actuating the same to cause engaging action thereof.

4. In holding means of the class described for electric conductors, the combination of a support adapted to receive the wire, a wire engaging member movably mounted on said support for clamping the wire thereon, and a rest arm projecting from the support with which the free end of the wire engaging member coa'cts for support when swung into inoperative position.

In holding means of the class described for electric conductors, the combination of asupport adapted to receive the wire, a wire en aging member movably mounted on said support for clamping the wire thereon, a rest for supporting the wire engaging memher when swung into inoperative position, and actuating means for causing the engaging movement of the wire engaging member in one position and for maintaining the said member in its inoperative position cooperative with the rest aforesaid.

(i. The combination with an insulator having a wire receiving recess. of wire holdmg means supported on said insulator and frame. spaced wire receiving comprising seats formed on said frame in alinement with the insulator recess aforesaid, a wire engaging member connected to each side of the frame for cooperation with the frame seats aforesaid to clamp the wire in the seats and hold the same in the insulator recess, and actuating means for said wire engaging members.

7. The combination with an insulator, of wire holding means supported thereon and 0091a of thin potent me, be obtained ter he cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner comprising a vertically disposed frame, a clamping member for securing said frame on the insulator, a hook-shaped projection at each side of said frame constituting a wire receiving seat, a wire engaging member pivotally mounted at each side of said frame for cooperation with the hook projections aforesaid to clamp the. wire in said seat, laterally projecting rests formed on said frame, adjacent to the wire engaging members with which said members are engaged when in inope ative position, and means for holding the wire engaging members in inoperative and operative positions respectively.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

OLIVER E. MoNnoE.

Witnesses:

IIENRY C. BAKER, Eva MI'sn.

at hunts,

Washington, D. G. 

